Airport to get jet trips to Denver

Southwest to bring nonstop flights in November

Southwest Airlines, the Texas Panhandle's busiest passenger air carrier, announced Wednesday it will run two nonstop flights each day from Amarillo to Denver starting Nov. 4.

Gary Molberg, president and chief executive officer for the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, hoped the added routes would make travel more efficient for local passengers looking to connect with other flights in a major hub.

Before the change, flying to Denver meant either being routed through Dallas or Houston, or traveling directly on smaller, slower-moving prop flights operated by Great Lakes Airlines.

Southwest is confident the Panhandle has a strong enough passenger base to justify the new flights, spokesman Chris Mainz said. Last year, 445,066 passengers flew out of Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport, 267,108 of them aboard Southwest jets.

Wednesday's announcement came as Southwest CEO Gary Kelly unveiled the company's forecast for the upcoming year and its fall flight schedule.

Among the airline's strategies are plans to fly more planes to key growth cities, while reducing or eliminating 39 routes in markets such as Orange County, Calif., and Long Island, N.Y.

Southwest has been trying to grow its presence in Denver, a hub for competitor United Airlines, since it first touched down there in January 2006. Great Lakes, a regional partner of United, recently retooled its flight schedule and now goes to Denver from Amarillo once a day.

Amarillo Mayor Debra McCartt was uncertain how Southwest's move would affect Great Lakes, but she credited the Cheyenne, Wyo., airline company for filling a void in the meantime.

She declared news of direct Southwest flights to Denver the product of "a wonderful partnership" between the airline and the city, which has long wanted jet service to Colorado.

"We've written letters asking for Denver ... for years," she said. "This is something we've wanted and been trying to get for a long while."

Attempts to reach a spokesman for Great Lakes, both in Amarillo and at its headquarters, were unsuccessful Wednesday.